Pokhara, May 14:

CPN (UML) general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal today said that the eight parties should remain united till the conduct of the constituent assembly (CA) polls.

Saying that the eight parties got united to establish a democratic republic through the CA polls, Nepal said the nation will plunge into a crisis if the political unity is disrupted.

Speaking on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Pokhara-based Hotline Daily here, Nepal urged the government to give priority to media houses established outside the capital with small investment. Vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) Gangadhar Parajuli said the Nepali press had not become free even after the success of the Jana Andolan II.

Founders of Hotline Daily, Raju Bhandari, Madankaji Shrestha, Badri Binod Prateek and Punya Poudel, were felicitated on the occasion.

FNJ Kaski president Rabindra Banstola, Gyan Bahadur Koirala of the CPN (Maoist), Santa

Bahadur Ghising of the Jana Morcha Nepal, Soviet Bahadur Adhikari of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) and Yagya Bahadur Thapa of the Nepali Congress also expressed their views on the occasion.